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Far in California’s Sierra Nevada, enormous glaciers are disappearing and projected to melt away completely by the start of the next century, leaving summits without glaciers for the first time in recorded human existence, recent studies has found.

Age-Old Beginnings of Sierra Nevada Ice Masses

The range's ice sheets are more ancient than previously known, tracing back tens of thousands of years, with a few as ancient as the most recent glacial period, according to an article released last week.

“Our pieced-together ice age record indicates that a future ice-free Sierra Nevada is without precedent in the history of humankind since documented settlement of the Americas ~20,000 years ago,” the article states.

Global Threat to Ice Formations

Ice masses globally are at risk during the climate crisis. A study published in the month of May of the current year determined that almost forty percent of ice sheets are destined to melt because of climate warming. If such heating increases by 2.7 degrees Celsius, which the planet is presently on track for, as many as seventy-five percent will vanish, leading to ocean level increase and large-scale relocation.

Throughout the American west, glaciers have shrunk substantially since they were initially recorded in the 1800s, according to the article.

Focus on Major Glaciers

The recent study centers on several Sierra Nevada glacial masses – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade ice sheets – that are some of the biggest and likely oldest in the range. Their durability during climate warming makes them “indicators” for studying glacier disappearance in the west, the study notes.

Research Methods and Findings

Scientists examined recently exposed bedrock around the glaciers and took samples to determine how long the region was covered by glacial ice. They determined that the ice masses have enveloped large areas of the mountain system for far longer than previously known – since prior to humans occupied North America.

California’s glaciers attained their peak extents as long ago as thirty thousand years ago, the study's researchers wrote, and one of the ice bodies researchers studied is believed to have grown 7,000 years ago, earlier than once thought. The disappearance of glaciers, for the first time in human history, shows the profound impacts of the climate change, one author of the investigation said.

Ecological and Representational Consequences

“We’ll be the first to witness the glacier-less summits,” said the study's lead researcher, the study’s lead author. “This has ecological implications for flora and fauna. And it’s a symbolic loss. Climate change is very abstract, but these glaciers are tangible. They’re symbolic elements of the Western U.S..”